Opera

The need for new, contemporary international opera and operetta productions
International Opera Productions exists more than 10 years and is an initiative of a number of theatres in the Netherlands and Belgium. At the end of the nineties Dutch theatre directors put their heads together how to realise good new productions which could tour around the country. In earlier times already existing productions of companies from Central Europe were playing in the theatres but the Dutch public and the directors had other artistic needs. As a result the first international artistic co-productions between international teams and Eastern European companies were realised. In the cultural season of 2001-2002 Richard Strauss' opera Ariadne auf Naxos was realised and touring around - the first production of International Opera Productions was born!

International artistic teams
For each production an artistic team is composed. This team often comes from Germany, but also regularly comes from the Netherlands or other (European) countries. The artistic team makes the artistic choices for each specific production.

Preparation - artistic consultation and auditions
Realising a new production takes time – 1 of 1,5 years. The artistic team regularly consults and makes choices and auditions for soloists are held. The auditions are usually held in the Netherlands, but sometimes also in Germany or Italy.
The companies International Opera Productions work with are most of the time from Eastern Europe. Often these companies are also co-producer, because making operas and operettas are very costly. There are often around 100 people in and around the stage; scenery and costumes must be made, and don’t forget theatre where the rehearsals can take place. Eventually it all comes together at the premiere.
The operas and operettas are really successful. Every season, new productions are realized but also place regular revivals.
Under 'archive' is information about earlier performances of International Opera Productions can be found (in Dutch).

The playlists can be found under ‘Agenda’ or at the overview on the right hand side.
We hope to see you in one of the theatres in the Netherlands or Belgium!

A short overview of the productions of International Opera Productions in the season 2011-2012 (Information season 2011-2012 - download)
- Carmina Burana & Catulli Carmina
- Carmen
- The Merry Widow
- Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Carmina Burana

Scenic cantata of Carl Orff
For the break Catulli Carmina performed

Latin & German sung and spoken

Musical director / conductor Nayden Todorov
Director Marianne Berglöf
Choreography Martin Sommerlatte
Scenery  Andrey von Schlippe
Costumes Katrin Rölle

Soloists
Soprano: Karina Skrzeszewska
Tenor: Georgios Filadelfefs / Valeri Georgiev
Baritone: Dieter Goffing 

with the choir, orchestra and ballet *of the State Opera  Varna and Rousse and members of the choir of the Youth Opera of Varna

The inevitable course of life
Rhythmically and on stirring music Carmina Burana of Carl Orff  opens  and ends with the poem ‘O Fortuna’ . In an inimitable way he describes thus the fate of mankind. In a selection of twenty-four songs from the medieval manuscript from Germany life is described  on the basis of the fatal wheel of fortune, spring, winter / the tavern (drinking songs) and love.

Carl Orff is best known for his composition Carmina Burana (1937), the first part of a trilogy Trionfi (triumph). Catulli Carmina is the second part of the trilogy, Trionfo di Afrodite the third.
In this concert the Carmina Burana is preceded by the Catulli Carmina, the second part of the trilogy that was first performed in 1943 in Leipzig. Gaius Valerius Catullus (84-54 BC ±) was the first great Roman poet. The poems are about his obsessive love for Lesbia and are accumulated in the Catulli Carmina.

Tour in 1 – 16 October 2011

 
Carmen
Opera by Georges Bizet
Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy, based on a novel by Prosper Mérimée.
First performance: March 3, 1875, Paris (Opera-Comique)

French sung and spoken

Musical Director / Conductor Konrad Leitner
Conductor Nayden Todorov
Director Dominique Serron
Scenery Guy-Claude François
Costumes Christine Mobers

with the choir and orchestra of the State Opera of Rousse

Soloists:
Yaroslova Kozina as Carmen,
Paolo Bartolucci / Francesco Medda  as Don Jose,
Sergio Foresti as Escamillo, Kris Belligh as Le Dancaïre,
Erik Slik as Le Remendado, Bertrand Delvaux as Zuniga,
Christophe Herrada as Morales, Mariana Panova as Micaela,
Alice Gregorio as Mercedes and Dorine Mortelmans as Frasquita.

Carmen: seductive and untameable
Carmen is the passionate gypsy who prefers the bullfighter Escamillio over Sergeant Don José. The story of Carmen, by Prosper Mérimée is set in a contemporary manner by the Belgium director Dominique Serron. She follows the original story of Mérimée who was particularly fascinated by the traditions and way of life of the Roma Gypsies. The narrator sitting in the shadow of the old building also refers to the original story.

Director Dominique Serron is a theatre director in Belgium and artistic director of L'Infini théâtre in Brussels. In her work she combines sound, space to dance and acting. Carmen is part of the series of performances she has made about female heroes (Lulu, Iphigenia, Turando Princess, Lolita and most recently No Body Else about Marilyn Monroe).

Tour in October / November 2011

The Merry Widow
Operetta by Franz Lehár

Libretto by Victor Leon and Leo Stein,
to the comedy of L'Attaché Embassy of the L'Henri Meilhac
first version: December 30, 1905, Vienna

German sung and spoken

Musical director Erki Pehk
Director Marc Krone
Scenery Karel  Spanhak
Costumes Marrit van der Burgt

Love and money in times of need.
Meet Danilo Danilovitsch! He works at the embassy. It is crisis in his country and he is bankrupt. Yet  he hangs around drinking champagne in nightclubs and eating in restaurants of Paris. His motto: "You only live once"!
Then appears the young widow Hannah: young, beautiful and very wealthy! There is only one small problem: Danilo and Hannah are old acquaintances. They were once in love, but in very different circumstances.
This Merry Widow, directed by Marc Krone is a story of contemporary people involved in the tangled affairs. It is up to date: about people living in a turbulent world with crises and revolutions. Is it possible to be faithful to yourself?
________________________________________

The press on The Gypsy Baron (2010), directed by Marc Krone:
Operetta as it was intended (…) the new production of Strauss' The Gypsy Baron goes  back to the origins of the genre (...) the mix of cabaret-style comedy and villainous social criticism (...) Krone directs The Gypsy Baron in a  contemporary way. January 2010 - Kasper Jansen, NRC Handelsblad (4 stars)

Tour in February / March 2012

Il Barbiere di SivigliaOpera buffa in two acts by Gioacchino Rossini

The Libretto by Cesare Sterbini is based on the famous comedy "La Precaution inutile ou le Barbier de Seville" (1775) by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais and the libretto "Il barbiere di Siviglia ovvero La precauzione inutile" that Giuseppe Petrosellini wrote in 1782 for Giovanni Paisiello

First performance: February 20, 1816, Teatro Argentina, Rome
(Under the title Almaviva, Ossia l'Inutile Precauzione)

Sung in Italian

Musical director / conductor Stefano Seghedoni
Directed by Fabrizio Matteini
Choreography Susanna Gozetti
Scenery Guido Buganza
Costumes Marrit van der Burgt

Commedia dell'Arte
Although the premiere in 1816 in Rome Il Barbiere di Siviglia was disastrous, the brilliant music and humorous comic opera libretto soon became very popular.
Italian director Fabrizio Matteini was inspired by the period Il barbiere di Siviglia played.
The story of Count Almaviva will be staged by a traveling theatre company - the Commedia dell'Arte which was very well known during the 16th to the 18th century. The premiere of Il Barbiere di Siviglia took place in the period of 'Carnevale' - time of disguise and deception.
By using the Commedia dell'Arte Fabrizio Matteini wants to display both the popular and Italian character. In this tradition of Italian theatre play  Dr. Bartolo is a charlatan who lives in a trailer park and Bartolo is the manager of the theatre in which Rosina is working.

Who wins the heart of Rosina?
Count Almaviva, disguised as the common boy Lindoro, is trying to win the love of Rosina. She is beautiful, rich, spicy and very keen.  But Dr. Bartolo, Rosina's guardian, recruits for her favors - or is he attracted to her fortune? He is assisted by Rosina's music teacher Don Basilio. But Almaviva / Lindoro, has the resourceful Figaro, the "Barber of Seville" on his side ...
Tour in April / May 2012

For more specific information or questions please contact us via pr@operaproducties.nl